O'Reilly Automotive Q3 Results Beat View, Again Lifts 2014 Outlook

(RTTNews) - Auto-parts retailer O'Reilly Automotive Inc. (ORLY) on Wednesday reported a 16 percent increase in profit for the third quarter from last year, boosted by higher sales and margins. Both revenue and earnings per share for the quarter beat analysts' expectations.

Looking ahead, O'Reilly forecast earnings for the fourth quarter in line with analysts' estimates. For fiscal 2014, the company again raised its outlook for earnings and comparable sales growth, as well as raised the low end of its revenue growth forecast. Shares of the company gained almost 4 percent in extended trades.

The Springfield, Missouri-based company's net income for the third quarter was $217.00 million or $2.06 per share, up from $186.49 million or $1.69 per share in the year-ago period.

On average, 23 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to report earnings of $1.95 per share for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

Sales for the quarter grew 9 percent to $1.88 billion from $1.73 billion in the same period last year. Analysts had a consensus revenue estimate of $1.85 billion for the quarter.

Comparable store sales for the quarter increased 6.2 percent, compared to an increase of 4.6 percent in the same period last year.

Gross margin edged up 70 basis points from the year-ago period to 51.6 percent, while operating margin expanded 90 basis points to 18.3 percent.

Looking ahead to the fourth quarter, O'Reilly forecasts earnings of $1.60 to $1.64 per share and comparable store sales growth of 3 percent to 5 percent. Analysts currently expect the company to report earnings of $1.67 per share for the quarter.

For fiscal 2014, O'Reilly once again raised its earnings outlook to a range of $7.19 to $7.23 per share from the prior range of $7.00 to $7.10 per share. The company also raised its forecast for full-year comparable store sales growth to a range of 5.0 percent to 6.0 percent from the prior range of 3.5 percent to 5.5 percent.

Further, O'Reilly lifted the lower end of its outlook for full-year revenue. The company now projects revenue in a range of $7.1 billion to $7.2 billion compared to the prior range of $7.0 billion to $7.2 billion.

Analysts currently expect the company to earn $7.15 per share for the year on revenues of $7.16 billion.

O'Reilly has repurchased a total of 46.2 million shares of its common stock under its share repurchase program since the inception of the program in January of 2011 and as of date, at an average price of $90.84, for a total aggregate investment of $4.20 billion. The company has about $303 million remaining under its current share repurchase authorization.

ORLY closed Wednesday's regular trading session at $157.36, down $1.54 or 0.97 percent on a volume of 1.17 million shares. However, in after-hours, the stock gained $6.14 or 3.90 percent to $163.50.